Cursed
by OnyxvanGem
Summary: The Time War is finally over, and the Master looks for the Doctor in the last place he wants to look, but the one place he is certain he is. Warning: this will hurt your emotions.


**Hello, everyone.  
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**So, it has been a while since I posted anything story-like. I kinda abandoned In Which...which I hate...but I just kinda ran out of inspiration, then ran out of time, then I started writing my own novel. Which is going along well, by the way...  
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**But, I'll just post random fan fictions every now and again, just to show y'all I haven't died. Though, by the amount of messages I got after I stopped updating In Which was a little disappointing... anyway, it wasn't as if anyone read it anyway, so it didn't even matter.  
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**Anyway, this was inspired by Asylum of the Daleks...and then also by a post I saw on tumblr a while back. I feel like a horrible person for writing it. Not even my boyfriend would read it, which was depressing.  
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**Enjoy...  
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**Stay amazing!  
**

**OnyxvanGem  
**

* * *

**Cursed**

The Master wandered carefully through the silent halls of the Dalek Asylum, his laser screwdriver in hand. Though where he was, the ultra-intensive care unit, was deserted, he didn't want to take any chances. This place was full of Daleks, after all. And, though the Time War was finally over and there were very few Daleks left, they still made the Master nervous, making his drums throb loudly, ominously, beating hard against his skull. He did not like this place. He did not like it at all.

Bu he was there for a reason. Sure, to the High Council, it seemed like a very stupid reason, but to the Master…he had to do it. He had to free the Doctor. He couldn't let his ex-friend…ex-enemy…ex-lover just stay here forever. He couldn't. He had to get him… the Doctor would have reached the same conclusion if the master had gotten captured instead. The Master was sure of it.

Walking slowly to the door of the very last room, the Master felt his hearts race faster, a prickle of fear creeping into him. He shivered a little, pausing for a moment. He shook his head to snap himself out of it. The Master shouldn't be afraid…he needed to be calm…happy…comforting. He couldn't allow the Doctor to know how terrified he really was. It would frighten him even more. And Rassilon knew that he would be terrified enough without the Master adding to it…

So, taking a deep breath, the Master turned on his screwdriver, opening the door.

The Doctor was crying. Or, that's what the Master figured was happening…he was a little hesitant to call what the Doctor was doing 'crying' as there were no tears…but he was sitting in the back of the room, wrapped in chains, and he made choked sounding sobs every now and again. Taking a deep breath, the Master walked inside, moving closer to the Doctor…he had to make the Doctor stop crying. It was almost heart breaking.

"Doctor?" the Master said quietly before clearing his throat and repeating the title more loudly. This action seemed to startle the Doctor a little and he looked up slowly, focusing on the Master. The Master gave a tentative smile before slowly trailing his hand through his sandy brown hair…he had regenerated during the War, so it wasn't black anymore.

A moment of unbelieving silence filled the air as the Doctor stared at him. Then, he spoke.

"How are you alive?" he asked slowly, his gaze not leaving the Master even for a moment. The Master held back a flinch at how the Doctor's voice sounded. "I just saw you die. I'm holding your body right now! How is this possible?"

"Doctor, listen to me-" the Master tried, but the Doctor shook his head.

"No…Master…you aren't real…you can't be… I just watched you die… you refused to regenerate… you wanted me to be alone for the rest of my life…I tried to get you to regenerate, but you wouldn't…you wouldn't…" he trailed off, looking away for a moment before looking back. "But now you're here…and you're alive…how are you alive, Koschei?"

"The Master reached out and touched the Doctor's head, which turned slightly into his touch.

"Doctor…" he said. There was a moment of silence before the Doctor looked back into the Master's face.

"Why can't I feel your hand..?" the Doctor asked nearly silently. "Master, touch me…please?"

"Doctor, I _am_ touching you…" the Master said carefully. The Doctor shook his head.

"You're not…Master, please…hold me?" his voice was beginning to turn desperate. "This isn't funny anymore…please, Koschei, I need you…please…"

The Master swallowed, feeling his eyes beginning to tear up a little, though he quickly wiped them so the Doctor wouldn't see. Of course, the Doctor probably saw anyway. He always saw…

"Master..?" the Doctor trailed off, one arm moving up to try to touch the Master…it wouldn't reach. The Master sighed.

"Doctor, Theta…I need to tell you something. Something very important…and it will hurt you, but you need to hear it…I am so sorry, my Theta…"

"Koschei..?"

"You were captured…taken while we were on the Cruciform…and you were taken by the Daleks and I tried to find you, but they needed me to keep fighting…I was their greatest weapon…after you were taken…"

"But I wasn't taken anywhere…the Cruciform exploded and you ran away and I had to put Gallifrey in a time-lock…" The Master shook his head slowly.

"No, Theta…the Time War ended about a week ago… it was never put into at time-lock, and I didn't run… you were," the Master had to clear his throat, "you were taken by the Daleks, and…well…we both know what happens to the ones they take…"

The silence was deafening. The Master stood in front of the Doctor, waiting for him to process what the Master had just said. The Doctor slowly looked down at himself before looking back at the Master. He shook his head quickly.

"No…please no…I-I can't be…no, please, Master, I can't be…I-no…please tell me that I…that I'm not a-" the Doctor pleaded. "I'm not a Dalek…please…"

"Doctor, I…" the Master began, but the Doctor cut him off.

"Master…help me…please?" he asked so softly that the Master had to strain to hear.

"I can't…I'm so sorry…"

"Why?" the Doctor asked quietly. "Why did you tell me..? I was so happy…I traveled in the Tardis and…why, Master?" The Master sighed. He had anticipated this, but he had no idea what to say…nothing he could say would help the Doctor at all, but he needed some answer…

"Because you needed to know," he said simply. There was a moment of disbelieving silence on the Doctor's part, and he just sat and stared at the floor. "Look…I couldn't just leave you here…it wouldn't have been fair, and…"

"And..?" the Doctor asked when the Maser couldn't continue, and the Master sighed once more.

"And I still need you…" he replied, a little ashamed of his confession. The Doctor didn't respond for a moment, instead looking at the Master with what he assumed was astonishment. The Doctor shook his head.

"No, you couldn't…not anymore…not with me being a…"

"I don't care about that…I just need you, Theta…I still love you…"

"You couldn't," the Doctor protested. "You couldn't….not when I'm a…when I'm a Dalek…you should be so scared of me…"

"Never." The Master caressed the top of the smooth metal casing that acted as the Doctor's head and it twisted a little, moving slowly back and forth under the Master's hand. He heard the Doctor give the equivalent of a sigh and stopped moving.

"Thank you for coming for me, Koschei…" the Doctor said quietly, "but I need you to…kill me…I can't live now…what would people..? They would…run away from me, they would, they would hate me…and this hurts…please..?" he inquired sadly but hopefully. He thought that the Master could actually kill him…

"Theta…I couldn't do that… I just-" the Master said, stopping when he heard the Doctor let out a choked sob.

"Why? I can't do this…I…if you don't do this…if you don't kill me, what would happen to me?" he asked rhetorically. "I would get locked up…they would keep me in a cage or do something to hurt me…I'm begging you, Master…if you ever loved me…please?"

"I can't…I couldn't! Theta…" the Master said, shaking his head. "You can't ask me to do this…"

"Can't I? Master…I can't exist this way, as a…I'm stuck as this thing…this thing…I can't…every time I would see my own reflection, I would be terrified. You don't realize this…I am so scared, Koschei…so scared…just…help me?"

The Master didn't know what to do. He was stuck, torn between his need to keep the Doctor, which would make the Doctor suffer, or his need to put him out of his misery, which would make _him_ suffer. The Doctor was scared…terrified…and in pain. He couldn't live with that, knowing that his Theta was in that much pain…but, the Master was so selfish. He was so very selfish…

"I can't. I'm , I just…I can't. I need you too much," he whispered, looking sadly over the Doctor's 'body', pausing a moment before putting his hand on the Doctor's 'neck'. "I'm sorry…"

"No…no…" the Doctor tired to move back. "No, you…you'd leave me like this..? You…Master, please…please…I-I…"

"I can't. I literally _cannot_ kill you. Do you not _get_ this?!" the Master asked, his voice raising, making the Doctor move even more back. "I _can't_ kill you! I love you! If you ask me to do this, I would not be able to go on! I need you, Doctor! Theta…I know you don't see it, but I am _nothing_ without you…"

The Master hit the wall with his hand hard, breathing heavily, his eyes closed. He stood still, the drums pounding loudly, painfully against his skull. It was hard to think…but through the drums, he heard a noise. Soft, pathetic whimpering noise. The Doctor.

The Master turned around, looking at the Doctor with wide eyes.

"Doctor…" he said softly.

"I'm sorry…I'm so sorry…" the Doctor said softly. He looked at the floor. "I…shouldn't have asked you to do that for me… I'll just…I was handling this. I was mostly happy… I was traveling in the Tardis and I was so… and you had been there too, Kos…you kept me prisoner and you were so cruel to me, but…I loved you so much…ever night, you would come to me and you would fix me and you would hold me…and you did this every night. You turned me young each nigh-you had kept me as an old man during the day-and you would hold me and tell me you were sorry and then you would feed me and wash me and kiss me and put me to bed and tell me it would be over soon…and it…it never ended, but I was so happy…Master, can you do that for me? Can you tell me it'll be over soon..?"

The room was completely silent. The Master stood still for a moment before nodding. He moved closer to the Doctor and placed his hand on the Doctor's 'face'. The Doctor turned a little into the touch, looking up at the Master curiously.

"Master..?" The Master smiled softly.

"You're going to be okay, Theta. It'll be over soon," he promised. There was another moment of silence and the Master leaned forward and pressed a small kiss to the top of the Doctor's 'head'. "I love you…"

"I love you too…"

The Master pulled out his screwdriver and pointed it at the chains on the Doctor. He turned it on and the chains fell to the floor. The Master stepped back a little.

"Come on…let's get you home."

The Master took the Doctor back to Gallifrey, where he kept him on his estates, hiding him. And, every day, he came to the Doctor, who had confined himself to just one room, and promised him it would end.

It never did.


End file.
